The present invention relates to the use of short chain fatty acids containing lipids in clinical nutrition.
Lipids containing fatty acids from 1 to 6 carbons in length, short chain fatty acids (SCFA), are known to be produced in the gastrointestinal tract, in particular in the colon. Short chain fatty acids include formic, acetic, propionic, butyric, isobutyric, pentanoic, isopentenoic, and caproic. Typically, the short chain fatty acids are produced by bacterial fermentation. The substrate for the production of short chain fatty acids by bacterial fermentation are carbohydrates that are generally fiber in nature.
The short chain fatty acids are used by the gastrointestinal mucosa as an energy substrate to maintain integrity and function. One method of providing gastrointestinal mucosa with short chain fatty acids is to utilize a dietary fiber which is converted by luminal microorganism digestion to fatty acids. Due to a variety of clinical reasons, the ability of the gastrointestinal mucosa to use short chain fatty acids as an energy source can be impaired.
When in the course of human disease or therapy, for disease, the bacteria flora of the gut is modified, reduced, or eliminated, its ability to provide short chain fatty acids as an energy substrate is impaired. There are a number of procedures, specifically with respect to hospitalized individuals that can greatly alter or eliminate the microflora of the gut. This can occur, for example, due to antibiotics, chemotherapy, or radiation. Furthermore, when the fiber intake of the patient is restricted, such as with some current elemental diets, there is no substrate for microorganism digestion even if the microflora are viable.
Because, in the above-identified conditions, short chain fatty acids cannot be used by the gastrointestinal tract as an energy substrate gastrointestinal integrity and function cannot be maintained.